Aliyev visits Georgia day after deportation of independent Azerbaijani journalist Sadigov
A state visit by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has begun in Georgia. The trip comes a day after the independent Aliyev-critical journalist Afgan Sadigov was deported from Georgia to Azerbaijan following a Tbilisi City Court ruling.
Aliyev and his wife, Azerbaijani Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, arrived on Monday morning at Tbilisi International Airport, where he was received by Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili.
As part of the visit, Aliyev held his first meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili at the Presidential Palace in central Tbilisi. A meeting with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze is scheduled to follow both in one-on-one and expanded formats.
The delegation accompanying Aliyev includes Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and presidential foreign policy adviser Hikmet Hajiyev, as well as Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, and Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev.
News of Aliyev’s visit emerged in Georgian media on Sunday, just hours after a Georgian court ordered Sadigov’s deportation from the country. The ruling came despite Sadigov being under an international protection order blocking his extradition to Azerbaijan over human rights concerns.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
The trial was preceded by Sadigov’s surprise arrest several hours earlier for ‘insulting’ Georgian police online. This was cited as the official reason for his deportation.
Azerbaijan has sought Sadigov’s extradition from Georgia for nearly two years, reportedly accusing him of fraud or extortion. In 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) enacted interim measures barring his extradition until they could hear his case. As a result, Sadigov was released from Tbilisi pre-extradition in Tbilisi in April 2025, but, according to his lawyers, on bail with a travel ban.
After his release, Sadigov continued his sharp criticism of both the Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities, frequently attending anti-government protests in Tbilisi and expressing solidarity with detained dissenters in both countries.
As reports of Aliyev’s visit surfaced, some linked it to Sadigov’s deportation.
‘Now I guess we all understand why Afgan Sadigov was deported so hastily’, Tamta Mikeladze, the director of the Tbilisi-based Social Justice Center (SJC), which represented Sadigov, wrote on Facebook.
‘A gift was presented to the Sultan, and the prisoner was handed over’, she added, comparing Aliyev’s total power in Azerbaijan to that of a sultan.
Critics of the ruling Georgian Dream party described Sadigov’s deportation as a violation of the ECHR decision. In turn, the Interior Ministry seemed to suggest the opposite, claiming that ‘human rights and freedoms are fully protected in Georgia’.
